Before I start, I want to apologize to Shifty Lifty fans that I made the raccoon brothers I made them the villains. I don't hate them. I actually like them and their one of my favorite characters. It's just that they're the easiest among the HTF characters to make villains, as they're already thieves, and have shown much greed. In fact, all their bad actions in this fic simply stemmed from too much greed. They're not bad persons at heart, but they sometimes are too greedy for their own good.

Chapter 3

Climax

Shifty grinned in satisfaction at his work. All of Petunia's possessions were already stacked on boxes ready to be carried to Petunia's car. He already had the skunk's car keys on his pocket. He was just waiting for his brother before they'll make their getaway. He stole everything but the kitchen sink, including the lightbulbs on the ceiling and the screws on the kitchen pipes. The only thing that is not stolen is the stool by which Giggles is standing on and a ceramic lamp on a table that Shifty intended to light the house with if the operation lasted into the night. He snickered. The stool will follow later. After all, he had no intention of killing Giggles. He's a thief, not a murderer.

He could only hope that this operation would go off without a hitch. He and his brother had already died countless times in the most gruesome fashion while doing previous jobs. Anyway, Shifty thought, death held no terrors for the brothers. On the contrary, ever since moving to Happy Tree Town, death is something that could ruin a day job and would give temporary pain, but nothing more. And there were times when they succeeded. The profits from the sale of stolen goods were more than enough to make it worth risking their lives on a daily basis.

Shifty nodded in self congratulation on a job well chosen. Sure, there were richer citizens that could be robbed, but this was the safest. Robbing the other tree friends is risky, as they could easily be beaten to a pulp once they were caught. There were already beaten up by Lumpy, Disco Bear, and the others. Heck, they were even murdered in cold blood by Flippy. God, they vowed they won't even look at Flippy's house after that experience. Petunia and Giggles were different. They could easily be overpowered. He remembered when they easily took over the lemonade business of the two girls and tied them behind the stand. If only Splendid did not interfere, then it would have been perfect. But now nothing could go wrong. He planned everything. Everything. And he has faith that his brother would not mess things up.

He looked at Giggles, still standing on the stool, carefully balancing herself with her hands tied behind her, with the rope around her neck. She looked at him with barely controlled sobbing. Her tears had dried, yet she still had terror in her eyes. Shifty was sympathetic.

"Don't worry. I don't think that skunk will do anything stupid," Shifty communicated as he walked around her. "You'll be free of that noose soon enough!"

Giggles only could look at the grinning raccoon. Oh how she wished this nightmare would end. She longed for the hug of her beloved Cuddles. Several times, she nearly fell from the stool and got hung, but she quickly balanced herself. Several times she thought of simply letting herself get killed and wake up the next day good as new, as she knew no one of her friends would suspect suicide, yet she drew back. No. Even as she died on a regular basis, no one of the Tree Friends in their right minds deliberately and intentionally killed themselves. Even Petunia when she peeled herself to death was already by that time out of her mind. Accidental suicide and homicide was very common, but intentional? No. She has a will to live, and there is nothing at this situation that would compel her to take her life.

She closed her eyes and try to think positive things. She thought about her friends, her mother, Cuddles, Petunia. She was deep in thought when a shout interrupted her daydream.

"Giggles!" a loud high pitched voice shouted. Giggles opened her eyes as Shifty turned. Shifty, before he could react, was punched to the face and fell on his back to the floor.

Lumpy and Sniffles were on a nondescript car quietly following Lifty and Petunia. Lumpy wanted to use the police car but Sniffles persuaded the Sheriff to use his car instead, as it would be less conspicuous to Lifty. Lumpy agreed, not before claiming the idea for himself and congratulation himself for the plan. Sniffles simply shook his head. And as Sheriff, to Sniffles' protest, Lumpy insisted on being on the driver's seat. He dismissed Sniffles' complaint with a contemptuous, "I'm the sheriff around here!"

Sniffles has a pair of binoculars spying on the two. He saw Handy a little bit behind Lifty and Petunia and he was quietly following them. Every time they would get too far, Lumpy started the engines and slowly drove a little closer, stopping when getting close to maintain a safe distance. He would wait, on Sniffles signal, for the couple to move further away, then he would slowly inch the car closer. In fact, Sniffles was surprised at Lumpy's competency in handling the car. He guessed his many jobs that require driving made him a better driver.

Both Lifty and Petunia were completely oblivious to the three people following them. As far as Lifty's concerned, everything was going according to plan. He has the money, he has Petunia scared and willing to follow his orders, and nobody else knew about their caper. The bag of money was slung across his back. Nothing could go wrong.

Until they met Disco Bear walking towards them. "Oh yeah!" he said as he listened and danced to disco music from his walkman as he walked on the streets. He spots Petunia walking around with Lifty and sees another opportunity to flirt.

He walked while dancing his groovy moves toward Petunia. He put forward his face as close as he dared, and said, "Hey Blue, why don't you and me—" but was cut off.

"Hey back off, creep," Lifty said as he pushed Disco Bear away with a swing of his left arm as he pulled Petunia away from Disco Bear.

Disco Bear simply shrugged the rebuff. He then listened to his music when he discovered to his horror that his walkman was gone. Not only that, when he tried to reach for his wallet, it was missing.

He quickly registered what had happened. He looked at the grinning Lifty walking away from him. "Stop! Thief!" he shouted as ran towards Lifty and Petunia.

Lifty just laughed as he grabbed Petunia's wrists and ran.

"Lumpy! This is our chance! Let's go after them!" Sniffles shouted.

"But you said we should only follow him so he won't suspect a thing?" Lumpy asked.

"Yes, but he robbed Disco Bear! He'll think that we're after him because of that!" Sniffles explained.

"Just what I was thinking," replied Lumpy as he stepped on the gas. "Oops, forgot the siren and the beacon."

Lumpy, while driving, turned on the police siren, got the magnetic beacon, and placed it on the top of the car. Unfortunately, multitasking was not one of the moose's strong points, and his eyes were off the road while he was placing the beacon.

"Watch out!" Sniffles shouted as Disco Bear appeared right before the car. Lumpy swerved to avoid the bear. The car as a result hit a nearby tree. Unfortunately, Handy was hiding in the bushes besides the tree and he was hit instead. Blood covered the front of Sniffles' car as Handy's organs splattered on the tree and on the bushes and on the windshield. Disco Bear backed out and ran from the car, thankful for the reprieve.

Unfortunately, the car was reversed and Lumpy was able to put the car back on the road, without first cleaning the windshield. He hit the gas with Sniffles shouting, "The windshield wiper! Turn the windshield wiper on, you idiot!"

"Oh!" Lumpy exclaimed as he realized he'd been driving a few seconds without seeing the road. He turned on the wiper but before he did, he heard a loud squishing sound as if the car hit something. The wiper quickly cleared the blood and guts of Handy from the windshield. Lumpy hit the breaks and looked forward. Seeing nothing, he pressed the gas hard. Lumpy and Sniffles felt the car jolt upward then downward unevenly as it moved forward. "I never knew there was a hump there before," Lumpy remarked as he focused on Lifty and Petunia.

Sniffles looked back. "That's no hump! That's Disco Bear!" he gasped. "That sound before you stopped the car! It was when you hit Disco Bear! And we didn't see him afterwards because he lay prone just in front of the car, out of your field of vision!"

Lumpy simply nodded sadly as he drove and said, "Thus, another one dies in the line of duty!"

"He's not doing any duty! He's a bystander who had nothing to do with this!" Sniffles protested.

"Yes, a bystander in the line of duty," Lumpy continued, completely missing Sniffles point.

Two dead, and all innocent, was what Sniffles was thinking, shaking his head. How many more?

Lumpy got the speaker on the car, and shouted, "Give up Lifty! You're under arrest for the theft of Disco's Bear's walkman!"

Lifty looked behind and was surprised that it was not Disco Bear who was chasing him, but Lumpy the sheriff in a bloodstained car. Lifty became afraid, and started running as fast as he could, dragging Petunia by the arm. He just had to be too greedy! He just had to steal from Disco Bear! Damn it, if he left that bear alone, he wouldn't be in trouble!

Looking around, he decided to ditch Petunia as dead weight. He scanned the area, and saw what he was looking for.

Pop was in a dejected mood. He had been walking aimlessly in the park for the past hour or so. Cub had died earlier today because of his carelessness—again. He recalled, with pain in his heart, the events of the day. It was a fine morning, so Pop decided to put Cub on a stroller. He had learned in the incident of the Kitchen Sink—he shuddered at the memory—that it is not a good idea to put your toddler on a wagon. Unfortunately, he decided bring his son on the tall hills overlooking the sea. He saw Handy walking down the hill, and waved to him. Unfortunately, the act of waving for Pop necessitated for a moment that he let go of the stroller. Pop thought nothing at all of it. After all, it was only a couple of seconds, right?

Pop turned his head towards his son only to see the stroller speeding down the hill. "Cub! I'm coming!" he shouted as he chased after the runaway stroller. The stroller, however, was too fast. Pop saw there were a couple of rocks at the side of the cliff by the sea. The rocks stopped the stroller. However, the momentum threw Cub off into the sea. Pop looked in horror as Cub got impaled by a buoy. Pop cried, and in anger and in sorrow, threw large rocks towards the ocean.

Pop later learned that Russell was oyster diving just below the cliff, and one of the larger rocks he threw trapped his foot on the bottom floor. Another hit a nearby swordfish who then attacked Russell as a result and tore the pipe of his scuba gear. Pop could not be but struck by the coincidence.

He was thankful however that he lived in this town, or he would have long ago permanently lost his son. If only his wife made it here, then she would survive. When they were newlyweds, they planned on moving to Happy Tree Town after the birth of their son. They even bought a house. What he did not know is that her wife was frail, and she died delivering Cub. After the funeral, he moved to Happy Tree Town. He shortly had his wife's remains reburied in the town. If only they moved here before Cub was born.

He was deeply flawed as a father, he knew, but he loved Cub. He knew he would see his son tomorrow, yet he could not bear to see his son die. If only he was more careful, if only…

Pop stopped his musings as he reached his car by the side of the park. Taking his keys, he opened the door, and was about to enter, when suddenly, something pushed him away from his vehicle and grabbed the keys. Pop was shocked as Lifty drove away. "That's my car!" Pop shouted.

Pop looked around. He saw Petunia in the middle of the street, dazed and a little confused, and a car with a police beacon and siren covered in blood heading straight for her. He saw it was Lumpy driving. Lumpy stepped on the break, but it was clear to Pop that it was not going to stop in time. Thinking quickly, he rushed and pulled Petunia out of the way.

The car stopped and Sniffles ran to the two. "Is she alright?"

"She's in a daze, but she's alright, no thanks to Sheriff Lumphead," Pop replied.

"Sorry about that," Lumpy shouted, "but I didn't see her in time. Hey buddy," he called to Sniffles, "Come on! We're gonna lose him!"

"You go on ahead, somebody needs to take care of Petunia," Sniffles said as he assisted the blue skunk off the streets. "Thanks Pop. And Lumpy, don't forget Lifty's cellphone. Remember, it's about Disco Bear's walkman if he asks anything."

"Okay then," Lumpy said, but before he could slam the door shot, Pop darted into the front seat where Sniffles had sat before.

"Pop, what are you doing?" Lumpy demanded.

"That's my car! And if you don't want to loose it, I suggest you step on it," Pop replied, having none of the respect others have towards the blue moose. In many ways, he was the one who is least intimidated by the blue moose, as he is much older than him, and wiser, in many ways.

Lumpy was eager to catch the raccoon, so he grudgingly accepted Pop into Sniffles' car. "Okay, but don't get in my way, or I'll have you arrested for interfering with police work!"

"As if you have the guts!" Pop replied. "I'll sue you if you do so!"

The chase was on as Pop and Lumpy chased Lifty in Pop's car across the town.

Flaky, Flippy, and Cuddles parked the jeep a few houses from Petunia's. They don't want to excite the suspicions of Shifty of their presence. They walked as quietly as possible towards Petunia's house.

They hid just below a window in Petunia's hollowed out tree house to discuss plans. "So what's the plan?" asked Cuddles.

"We'll first have a look," Flippy said as he took a periscope from his pocket and handed it to Cuddles. "Tell us what you see."

Cuddles used the periscope to look inside the house. He saw Petunia's house stripped bare, boxes which presumably contains the stolen items, Shifty walking around a stool. He looked it up. What he saw made his blood boil.

Giggles was standing on the stool, hands tied behind her, foot bound, gagged with tape, but what made consumed Cuddles with rage was the noose around her neck. Any small trip, accident would kill his Giggles. Not Giggles! His playmate, his first crush, his girlfriend! Well, not yet officially, but everyone else understood! She who made some of his saddest days cheerful, she who helped him out of his deepest troubles, she who cradled him on her lap during his many deaths on Happy Tree Town, and he in turn cradled her when she died first. She with whom they died in each others arms so many times.

Cuddles saw blood in his eyes. Within seconds, he led a bloodcurdling scream as he rushed through the open window. "Giggles!" he shouted. If he had an opposite counterpart like Flippy, it would have emerged. Shifty had his back turned to Cuddles, but turned around when he heard his shout. It had the effect that his face absorbed the fist of the yellow bunny instead of the back of the head. He staggered backward before falling on his back.

Flaky and Flippy were so stunned that they did not notice Giggles nor did they act as they watched Cuddles pummel Shifty. Cuddles used his left hand to grab the fedora wearing raccoon while using his right to punch him in the face. So hard were the punches that Shifty began feeling dizzy. His arms flailed around uselessly, until he was able to grab the ceramic lamp.

With every ounce of his remaining strength, Shifty smashed the lamp onto Cuddles' head, breaking it into a million pieces. Giggles screamed into her gag as Cuddles collapsed into a pool of his own blood as his head bled from the sharp pieces of ceramic. She calmed down when she noticed his breathing, indicating that he was still alive. But he was unconscious and in need of medical attention.

The action led Flippy to have another painful flashback. Evil emerged, looking with sadistic glee upon Shifty. He laughed in his low, sadistic tone, and Shifty, Giggles, and Flaky became very afraid.

Flaky was lucky as she was behind Evil, and Cuddles already looked dead, and Giggles obviously was not going anywhere, so his eyes were fixed on Shifty. He took his bowie knife, and with a maniacal grin, advanced towards Shifty.

"Oh nuts!" Shifty shouted as he turned and ran, while Evil gave chase. While passing by Giggles, the evil green bear kicked out the stool from under her without so much as a glance as he chased after Shifty. The raccoon was so scared as he was reminded of being carved by Flippy with a cookie, that he forgot that he had the keys to Petunia's car and he simply ran out the back door with Flippy chasing him.

Flaky had enough presence of mind to run towards Giggles as soon as she realized what had happened. Before Giggle's neck could snap or she could suffocate, Flaky grabbed her legs. It did just the job as she was saved. Yet she could not do anything. Flaky has to hug Giggles by the legs until someone comes and removes the noose, because if she does anything else, Giggles will slip and be hung by the neck. The problem is Flaky's endurance. Giggles is a light chipmunk, but Flaky physical strength is weak. If nobody came soon enough, it will only be a matter of time before her strength gave out and she would be forced to drop Giggles. Even worse is that Cuddles is beside her, unconscious, alive, but bleeding. The wounds are not life threatening, but it needs immediate attention. "Flippy, anyone, please hurry," she shouted.

Sniffles was unsure of what to do. Where should he take Petunia? He can't take her back to her home as Shifty might still be there. Petunia was already recovering as she shook her head. After a few seconds, she was able to stand on her own two feet yet she still had to rest her arm on Sniffles forehead to balance as she was still reeling from the days' events.

"Should we go home?" asked the skunk to the anteater.

"Yes, but which home?" Sniffles wondered. He wanted to go and rescue Giggles, but he did not want to drag Petunia into it. "You want to stay at my place until this can be all sorted out?"

"I would appreciate that," Petunia replied. "I hope I won't be a bother."

"Nonsense! I have a spare room. Besides, I'm sure it won't be needed. I'm confident that everything will get sorted out before the day is out," Sniffles assured.

"Yes, I know, but will we all die first before it happens?" Petunia asked.

"Not all of us," Sniffles replied as he knew that Handy and Disco Bear were already dead. And he knew in his guts that at least a couple of his friends might die, if not already dead.

And it would not be the first, he mused. There was the earlier fire at Petunia's house where he was among the first to die, the hike in the woods, the trip to the zoo, the concrete sugar mix-up, and the infamous Christmas play. It they would die right now, he knew, it wouldn't matter in the long term. That's how twisted Happy Tree Town is.

Petunia wrapped her arms around Sniffles right as a form of comfort and security as they walked towards Sniffles' home. She was very impressed by Sniffles' actions that day, and her estimation of the nerdy anteater went up a million notches. Now, of all her male friends, Sniffles now ranks at the top—above Handy, above Cuddles, certainly above Flippy, above all. She only knew it now, and was glad. He may be nerdy, he may be a geek, but she likes him no less because of it. Yes, she admits, she likes him very much.

"By the way, what did you do with my money? How much did you give to Lifty?" asked Petunia.

Sniffles smiled. "Nothing at all. You see, a few days ago, the government confiscated a million dollars worth of counterfeit bills. They were given to us to destroy, which we'll do in two days. I put paper on the bag and put the counterfeit bills on top to fool Lifty," Sniffles said. "Here's your bankbook."

Petunia took it and looked over its contents. She smiled as she saw that it has not been touched. "Oh thank you! You're so wonderful!"

Sniffles merely smiled. "Oh, anybody in my position would do the same! Besides, we're friends! What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't help you?"

"Oh, maybe so, but still—" Petunia gave Sniffles a kiss to the cheek, "thanks"

"You're welcome," Sniffles said. "Oh, here we are! Home sweet home. Well, just make yourself comfortable."

Petunia looked around and was dismayed by the topsy-turvy look on Sniffles house. Books were scattered in very nook and cranny, charts and worksheets were everywhere, the walls have various chemical stains on it, and the like. "Sniffles, from now on, I'll clean your house free of charge every week," Petunia stated. "And don't say you can't accept!"

"But I can't accept! It's your business! It's your service! You charge everyone else, I also should pay for it," Sniffles protested. "You'll be ruined!"

"But you have. The consideration for all the cleaning that I'll do for you was your actions this day," Petunia replied.

"Like a prepayment?" asked Sniffles.

"Exactly!" Petunia said as she went to the kitchen. "Where do you keep your cleaning materials?"

At least she was beginning to get over the days' events, Sniffles thought.

Notes: Thank you for the reviews.

Thanks to PennytheFuckingWise, fridix95, Kitten630, deadliving andxSunshineBearx.

PennyFuckingWise, yeah, as much as possible, I want to have my story based on what happened in the episodes, so I won't go out of character with the characters.

Fridix95, thanks for liking my story.

Kitten630, I'm sorry if I made them the villain. Shifty and Lifty are also one of my favourite characters. It's just that they fit the role so perfectly, and no other Tree Friends can be so without being out of character.

Deadliving, I don't think Lumpy's a retard. After all, he can drive, conduct a school play, perform open heart surgery and make heart transplants. I believe he simply is incompetent and careless and have no common sense.

xSunshineBearx, yeah, Poor Giggles. Let's hope that she gets out of it alive. If not, well, this is Happy Tree Friends after all. Glad you like how I portrayed Petunia.

Thanks to all of you!!!